Three Little Words
by clem.grey
Summary: These were just three little words but they were scary. Merluca AU post 15x23 ! I hope you will enjoy it :) It’s a one-shoot but i’ll probabely write a sequel Tell me if you want to. Have a good reading ! SPOILERS


He was seized. Totally detained.

He felt stupid, standing alone, in the middle of an exam room.

Her perfume was still floating in the room while she had been away for a long time.

What had gone through his head? Why had he told her that he loved her when he knew she had had a bad day?

He could not help it. He loved her. Really. He had never loved someone as much as he loved her.

Yet it was not so long ago that they were together, just a few months officially. But the more he saw her, the more he spoke to her, the more she laughed and the more he fell in love.

It had been several days since he wanted to tell her these three words. He was able to prevent them from escaping from his mouth. Till today.

He could not help himself and now she was avoiding him, ignoring him.

He did not really expect her to say the same thing but he was hoping for a reaction. Another reaction than the one she had.

He did not regret it, no. But he was angry. He had probably scared her, maybe even hurt her. He had seen a tear threatening to sink from her eye. He had seen her lips tremble. And above all, he had seen her leave, almost running.

And now he was standing there, alone, scared and in love.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

She had literally run away. She did not want to think about it. She had been busy that night, had been cooking, taking care of the children's baths, putting them to bed and reading them a story.

But now, now she was alone in her bed. Alone with her thoughts.

She was looking at the place Derek had occupied for years and that she now occupied it when Andrew slept at her home.

The only man who told her that he loved her was her died husband. And she had not told it to anyone else.

Hearing these three words come out of Andrew's mouth today had almost broken her heart.

It was not fair to him but she could not help but hate him for that.

She hated him for giving her a new taste for life, real life and love.

She hated him for making her feel something she had not felt since Derek.

She hated him for invading her thoughts.

She hated him for making her laugh so many times.

She hated him for all the orgasms he had given her.

She hated him for the way he looked at her and how she felt weak and vulnerable now.

Except she did not hate him. Not at all.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

She had been avoiding him for two days. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his sad look and it broke her heart to think about it.

He had sent her a message asking how she was doing, but she had not answered.

He tried to call her but she did not pick up.

She cared about him, she liked him, a lot, but she did not know what to say to him. She behaved like a little girl hiding things she does not want to face. But the truth was, that she was missing him. A lot. She was not used to that.

She sighed.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Alex interjected closing the laboratory door behind him.

Meredith looked up at him and sighed again.

"Nothing" she whispered as she tried to focus on her research.

"Do not lie to me." He smiled slightly. He had understood that something was wrong.

"It's just that ... I ... I do not want to talk about it alex, please." She gave him a fake smile.

Alex was worried and he knew it was related to Andrew. They had been acting strangely for two days.

"Tell me if you need anything" He smiled sincerely.

She nodded with a slight smile before he left the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts, again.

She knew she had to talk to someone but it was not to Alex. But to Andrew.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

They used to see each other every day. Either at her home, at his home, at the hospital or sometimes only 10 minutes in the hospital car park.

Just to see each other, to talk to each other, to take each other's hand.

They acted like teenagers but they were both good and happy, truly happy.

However, it had been two days since he hadn't seen her. She was hiding in her lab so it did not help much. He had seen her back the day before for less than a second.

He missed her. He was afraid of losing her.

He was interrupted by his thoughts when he saw someone sitting next to him.

"You look sad" Amelia told him

"I'm not" he sighed

Amelia laughed.

"I know you Andrew, we're friends. What happened with meredith? " She asked gently

Andrew looked at her with astonishment. Was it so easy to know that there was a problem between him and meredith? Or maybe Meredith had spoken to her?

"Do not look at me like that, it's my sister ... I know when she's going badly and I know when it's because of you," she laughed.

"I ... I'm not sure I want to talk about it"

"You know, communication in a couple is important" she giggled without knowing that she had touched a sore point.

"Yeah" he laughed sarcastically.

"What was it for?" She worried when she saw him play with the lid of his coffee goblet.

He turned his head away. He felt stupid.

"Andrew," Amelia insisted.

"I ... I told her something and I think ... she did not take it well," he sighed.

"Did you both talk about it? What did you tell her?" Continued the neurosurgeon

Andrew sighed and took a deep breath.

"I ... I told her that I love her," he said quickly.

"Oh" was all that amelia could say.

"And now she's avoiding me," he murmured.

Amelia looked at him with pity. She knew what it was like not to be loved in return. But she also knew the situation between her sister and the Italian and she knew that it was not about a non-shared love.

"Did you try to call her?" She asked

" She does not answer "

"I'll tell you something," she smiled at him as he nodded softly.

« Meredith is like a doe running away from every sound she hears.She is an adult but she spends her time playing hide-and-seek and ignoring the things that scare her. She has suffered a lot, you probably know it. And that's her way of protecting herself. A way a little irrational, I agree but she is like that and we do not want her to change »

"No" he smiled

Amelia smiled tenderly before continuing her monologue.

"You know, it taked a long time for my brother to have her and I think it will be the same for you ... She is not the type expressed her feelings but believe me when I tell you that she really cares about you and that she's happy with you ... give her just a little bit of time, "Amelia smiled.

Andrew analyzed all the words of Amelia. One after the other. He had no time to think more or to answer her. His phone rang.

"_I need to talk to you ... can we see each other? _" he read.

A radiant smile appeared on his face. She did not want to avoid him anymore.

"I'm sorry .. I have to go" he got up quickly.

"Thank you" he hugged her for a few seconds.

Amelia laughed when she saw him running out of the cafeteria. She had seen the message. She was really happy that Meredith had found someone who made her smile so much. And she had to admit that she found them adorable together.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Andrew came running to the one-call room where Meredith had told him to join her

He took a deep breath before entering. He was stressed.

"Hey," he said as he entered. She was sitting on the bed and watched him close the door behind him.

She looked exhausted which worried Andrew.

They stared at each other for few long minutes.

Neither of them knew what to say.

"I'm sorry ... I'm really sorry if I hurt you or scared you...I just wanna.." he started

Meredith stopped him, getting up and putting her hand on his forearm, which was shaking as he spoke.

"No andrew ... I'm sorry. It's not your job to do it." She bowed her head.

Andrew looked in her sad eyes. He waited for her to speak to him.

"I'm going to talk to you, okay? But you have to let me do it" she smiled softly.

"Okay... " he smiled at her.

« I really like the way our relationship takes. I like you, a lot and you make me happy, really. I am not used to talking about my feelings but I will try. I will try because it is unfair to you. I should not have left you and I should not have avoided you these past two days. You deserve better than that. In fact, you deserve even better than me ... "she sighed

"Mer ..." he began

"No, let me finish... I was scared, I panicked. Derek is the only man who told me he loved me and showed it to me. And you ... "she smiled

"You show it to me every day. I'm not an easy person, I'm complicated and twisted and I often exaggerate things like that "

They both laugh.

"But you're always there if I need it. You have nothing to say to make me feel better. Your presence is enough ... "

She paused

"I ... I was not ready, and I'm still not, to hear you tell me that you loved me ... I ... and I'm not sure that I could tell you back one day ... "she sighed, lowering her head.

At present, she was vulnerable. She had talked about her feelings and it made her weak. Well, that's what she thought.

Andrew shook his head, smiling.

He approached her delicately and saw a tear in the corner of her eye. He never saw her crying. He hated that. He could feel her distress.

He pulled her towards him to take her in his arms, his nose nestling in her neck.

"I'm going to say it again but I love you" he rubbed her back to confort her.

"I'm sorry, I knew you weren't ready...and I didn't expect you to say it back...I just...I just needed to say it. For me. I'm sorry. It was selfish. I don't want to push you...we're going to take our time, right?"he smiled caressing her cheek softly

"Right" she laughed gently

She could not help but smile. He had the power to relax her. She knew she had panicked for nothing and yet she had not scared him. He had not ran away, he was there, with her.

She knew that things could work between them, but she also knew that a discussion would come soon. A difficult discussion about their expectations of their relationship.

It was going to be hard but for the moment the only thing that mattered was that she was in his arms, his lips on hers. She was good, safe, loved.


End file.
